The boardwalk dead ends into the second observation deck. A few stark, bleached
dead trees mark the landscape. Observe these trunks for the many holes serving
as homes for wildlife.

Sometimes
flocks of birds chatter among the highest branches, on their way to or from their
seasonal homes.

Even
the felled, rotting logs are important due to the recycling of their nutrients
through fungal decay as well as providing homes for rodents, snakes, lizards and
insects. Here is a second emergent cattail habitat and waterfowl enjoy this very
secluded pond.

The exit of the
stream from the Georgia Highlands College property is near, yet obscured from view.

You
may hear the water running over a beaver dam at this point, and looking toward
the sound, you may distinguish the stream bank by its border of trees.

There
is a beaver lodge right at the stream bank where two tree trunks form a V. This
one is not close enough for direct observation.

Beyond
is an exclamation point emphasizing the technological presence of human ingenuity--a
cell phone tower!